{"id":68996,"date":"2023-11-26T00:28:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T00:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/?p=68996"},"modified":"2023-11-26T00:28:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T00:28:33","slug":"shadows-rock-stars-brian-and-bruce-unfold-legacy-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/music\/shadows-rock-stars-brian-and-bruce-unfold-legacy-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadows rock stars Brian and Bruce unfold legacy path"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brian Bennett was busy. The Shadows were in panto with Frankie Howerd, and Brian was using the precious time between their two daily performances to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing a postal course with the Berkeley School of Music \u2013 I aspired to be a film composer and a conductor,\u201d the veteran drummer tells me. \u201cI was in the pit studying when Bruce Welch walked on stage clutching a script.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Young Ones was the second biggest film of 1961, so a follow-up was inevitable,\u201d rhythm guitarist Bruce explains. \u201cIn the first week of January, 1962, we got the synopsis for Summer Holiday \u2013 \u2018Cliff Richard and his friends drive a London bus through Europe meeting women\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian recalls, \u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019ve got the script; there are a lot of production numbers but no hits.\u2019\u00a0I said \u2018I\u2019m a bit busy at the moment, Bruce\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welch started strumming his guitar and sang,\u00a0\u2018We\u2019re all going on a summer holiday\/No more working for a week or too\u2026\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very simple song, four chords, very quick,\u201d says Brian of this spontaneous blast of musical sunshine created in the wintery cold.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> Don Giovanni is a return to 18th century traditions<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Bruce writes he gets straight to the point. I was at the grand piano and I came back immediately with the next four lines \u2013\u00a0\u2018We\u2019re going where the sun shines brightly, we\u2019re going where the sea is blue\u2019 etc<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I said, \u2018Is that it, can I get back to my course now?\u2019\u00a0The entire composition took twenty minutes. I never\u00a0dreamt it\u2019d be Number One.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or that there would be a blue plaque erected at the Globe Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees, commemorating the birth of one of Cliff\u2019s most beloved songs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was Brian\u2019s first Number One, a source of great pride and occasional embarrassment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore my late wife became unwell, we were flying out from Luton to Portugal on the red-eye and a group of schoolchildren started singing Summer Holiday. I walked over and joined in; an unhappy teacher came straight up. \u2018I wrote it,\u2019 I said, and he looked at me and said \u2018Go away!\u2019”<\/p>\n

What made it special?<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody had songs about lost love, or doom and gloom, but this was happy; it was light and upbeat, the lyrics roll off the tongue, and every year everybody goes on holiday,\u201d says Brian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was simple, but it\u2019s become a standard. There\u2019s a lot of affection for that era. Affection goes out of the window now because everything is so accessible, but in those days things were special, and new, it was like when TV first came out, so to have access to pop bands and their personalities became quite attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Months later, the Shadows were filming in Athens, \u201cdressed as Greeks and doing a dance in the square \u2013 suddenly I wasn\u2019t just a drummer. I was a songwriter and I was a movie star too.\u201d<\/p>\n